“Bang!”
Han Li grasped the bottle tightly with both fists and smashed it as hard as he could against the top of the table.
Han Li thought of many ideas to try and open the bottle and decided, “Maybe I could use a tool to try and open the bottle.”
He had used various violent methods to try and open the bottle, and after a while realized it wasn’t working.
These methods were quite simple and straightforward.
But thinking on how the strange, beautiful bottle didn’t show any signs of breaking, he started to feel a little upset and was driven to keep trying harder. If Han Li new any other methods of opening the bottle, he wouldn’t rely on simple, brute force.
If he called a Senior Disciple over to help, perhaps he could open it. But from the bottom of his heart, Han Li already considered this bottle to be his treasure and he didn’t want others to know about it. It was possible that this bottle could belong to any of the people living on the mountains. If the owner knew he had it, would he ask for it back? This small beautiful bottle was very captivating and Han Li would hate to have to return it.
Han Li already was enraptured by this small bottle. Although it could possibly be empty, he was willing to bet that if there was something inside of the bottle, it would be extremely precious.
The more Han Li thought of it this way, the more unbearable his impatience became.
If he couldn’t solve the riddle of opening the bottle, he would not be able to get a good night’s sleep.
Continuing to think of a plan, Han Li quietly stole away and left the valley, only leaving some leaves and other junk in his room. He left and picked out a single tool, a small iron hammer, and brought it back to his room.
Inside of his room, he took out a small brick and dug a small hole where the brick originally was. He then put the brick over the small hole and put the bottle on top of the brick.
Han Li then took the small iron hammer, held it over his head for a moment, and then decisively swung it down onto the center of the small bottle.
Bang!
Because he was afraid of using too much strength and actually breaking the bottle, his first strike was light to test the bottle’s hardness.
Seeing that there was no mark, Han Li’s heart relaxed and saw that he could apply more strength to hitting the bottle.
Bang! Five times.
Bang! Seven times.
Bang! Ten times.
Bang! Twelve times.
As Han Li used more and more strength, his wings began to get wider and wider, the hammer began to swing down faster and faster. Even though half of the brick underneath had been smashed, the bottle was still intact and didn’t have any marks.
Han Li was stunned, he couldn’t believe that even by using the iron hammer to smash the bottle there wouldn’t even be a single mark. The bottle still preserved its green and clean look.
This was obviously far beyond Han Li’s expectations.
Now Han Li was absolutely sure this bottle was made of something extremely valuable. But he figured the previous owner had realized by now that they had lost it. The owner could be looking for the bottle right now, so Han Li knew he would have to take good care of the bottle and make sure no one else saw it.
In Han Li’s mind, he considered it a matter of finders keepers. If it was something ordinary, he might return it, but obviously this bottle was special. It had most likely been owned by someone extremely influential or extremely wealthy; these were the two major impressions Han Li had.
From childhood, Han Li was very poor and his whole family labored all day long. They usually couldn’t eat their fill everyday. But within the Seven Mysteries Sect, he often saw big shots spend all money lavishly on food and drink. Seven Mysterious Sect disciples truly didn’t want to even touch any kind of peasant food. In his heart, Han Li was truly upset as these rich disciples would often look down upon the poorer ones. They frequently mocked each them and occasionally had small conflicts and scuffles. Han Li also took part in those fights once, but had no plans to get involved in another, for he was too weak and only ended up with a bloodied nose and swollen face. After recovering, he had just resumed his normal life.
As for the people on the mountain, there was also a difference in treatment based on status. Han Li’s third uncle had to bribe Wang Hufa to let Han Li test, but Wu Yan relied on an elder’s influence alone to get into the Seven Void Hall. Although Han Li hadn’t interacted many adults recently, he quickly matured to have the mindset of one and was already not too different from one.
Reasoning that the previous owner was too irresponsible to keep something this valuable as they had lost the bottle in the first place, Han Li decided he didn’t want to return it to them. Instead he would hold onto it out of spite of such a person.
Thinking of this, Han Li immediately took out the small leather bag from around his neck. He got this leather bag from home, where his mother had made it out of animal hide to give to him. It was waterproof and was used to carry boar’s teeth as a good luck charm. It was to protect him, keep him safe and away from dangers and calamities.
Han Li opened the pouch and put the bottle in with his good luck charm, then tightened it again before putting the necklace back on.
After putting it on, he checked all around him to make sure nobody was near. He then stuck out his chest and patted the bag, feeling the weight of the bottle.
Now, he felt fearless and was not afraid of any mishaps. It was inconceivable that the owner would ever be able to find it again.
Han Li quietly returned the hammer and pretended as if nothing had happened. He slowly strolled around inside of the Valley of the God’s Hand until it was nighttime and the sky was dark. And then he limped, wounded foot and all, back to his house.